FDA Logo

The FDA (the United States Food and Drug Administration) is a federal agency created with the aim of protecting public health through the control of the products and medicines sold both online and offline. The agency is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Meaning and History

The FDA traces its roots to the second half of the 19th century. Its predecessor was called the Division of Chemistry of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It investigated episodes of infringement and violations on the country’s food and drug market. In 1906, the agency operated under the name of USDA Bureau of Chemistry, its work regulated by the Pure Food and Drug Act. In 1927, the agency was transformed into the Food, Drug, and Insecticide Administration, and later the word “Insecticide” was dropped.

What is FDA?
The United States Food and Drug Administration controls food safety, dietary supplements, medicines and several other types of products. According to the federal agency’s information, the products they regulate account for 20 cents of every dollar spent by consumers in the United States.

19?? – 19??

One of the earliest logos the agency used already featured the distinctive “F” with the extended upper bar. Here, it was even larger and more massive than in the following versions. The bar stretched all the way to the top right corner “sheltering” the “D” and “A” glyphs. This can be interpreted as a symbol of protection the agency promises to consumers.

The two other glyphs shared the chunky style of the “F,” but looked more generic. There was also the lettering “Consumer protection” in an all-caps sans serif font. The downside of the design was probably the “gap” in the upper right part, which was especially visible in comparison to the monumental “F.”

19?? – 2016

The next iterations already looked very close to the current logo. We can see the recognizable combination of the “F” and “D,” joined together through the extended top bar of the “F.” The glyph looks pretty dynamic because of this approach. Also, the sense of speed is emphasized by the thin white line inside the letters – it resembles a road with curves and turns.

The “A” is equally dynamic, but despite an attempt to merge it into the wordmark, it still stands apart.

2016 – Today

The merged “FD” glyph is still there. The “A” looks even more “lonely” now due to the space separating it from the other letters. The “A” has been redrawn from scratch. It has preserved its “unfinished” touch – it is now noticeable in the way the middle bar is presented. But this time, the overall structure of the letter is classic. The wordmark is placed in the upper part of a blue rectangle.

The logo is sometimes used on its own, but can also be included in a lockup with the full name of the agency. In this case, the words “U.S. Food & Drug” form the top line, while the word “Administration” in smaller letters is positioned below.

Font and Color

The “FDA” part of the logo was created as a custom wordmark. But although the glyphs look unusual, their basic structure is traditional – it was borrowed from an existing sans serif font. The font in the left part of the lockup showcases two typefaces. The letters in the word “Administration” have similar proportions to the glyphs of the “FDA” wordmark.

As for the top line, it features a narrower typeface. This creative decision probably results from the need to squeeze all these words into a narrow space, to make the top line look proportional.

You can find older logos featuring slightly different shades of blue. The current one, however, is a saturated version of sky blue, which is an official enough color echoing (but not reproducing) one of the colors of the national flag.